


a sacred wood

by kagehinataboke



Series: kagehina one-shots [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Challenges, Fate & Destiny, Forest Spirit Hinata Shouyou, Hunter Kageyama Tobio, M/M, Minor Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Some Humor, Tumblr Prompt, forest spirit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 03:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14127171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kagehinataboke/pseuds/kagehinataboke
Summary: Kagehina one-shot based off prompt: "one person is a fox spirit who protects a forest and the other is a hunter whom the forest spirit becomes angered with."





	a sacred wood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Silver_Hyacinth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Hyacinth/gifts).



The first time he saw the hunter, Hinata was planting a yew tree sapling. It had been raining steadily all week and he figured it was the perfect time to plant a fresh grove. It was tough work to do alone, but it was calming and rewarding to be creating new life, so he didn’t mind all that much.

He was just finishing his seventh tree when a bird came rushing between the trees and alighted upon his head, digging her claws into his hair. “Ow! You’re hurting my ears, Chiyō!” He brushed her off and his tail flicked back and forth in irritation. “What the _heck_ is wrong with you?”

The crow cawed insistently and landed back on his arm, flapping her wings disconcertingly. Hinata raised a hand to bat her away again when the sound of a cracking branch caught his attention and his head shot eastward, ears swiveling to pinpoint the sound. He stood hesitantly, brushing dirt off his kimono. “That sounded like it came from Shika’s part of the forest…”

His brown eyes studied the rustling foliage with concern: Something was definitely off.

As he darted through the yew saplings and through the trees, Chiyō flew above him, filling the forest with her frantic calls. His chewed his lip worriedly as they approached Shika’s cave, hearing the animals’ anxious murmurs filtering through the underbrush, accompanied by the uneasy swaying of the trees. The whole forest was tense.

Pushing through a cluster of cypresses, he edged his way out into the clearing, ears straining for any sudden sounds as his tail quivered with nerves. He wrung his hands together, eyes combing through the sun-dappled meadow as he passed under a towering camphor tree.

“Shika?” he called hesitantly as he approached her shaded cave, swallowing nervously. “Shika, are you there?” When there was an answer from the doe, he called for her children instead. “Mikio, Naoki! Is anybody here?”

There wasn’t a single sound in response. With his sharpened fox senses, Hinata would’ve heard even the slightest noise, but there was nothing.

Nothing; until a gunshot pierced through the gentle quiet.

*** * * ***

Hinata sprinted through the trees, feeling his heartbeat in his throat as he tore through the underbrush, ignoring the branches scraping him from every angle. With each tight breath, he repeated a mantra under his breath. _Please let everyone be okay, please let everyone be okay, please let everyone be okay…_

When he reached another clearing, Hinata jolted to a stop, staring out at the field of wildflowers searchingly. It took his eyes only seconds to locate Shika’s collapsed form a few meters away and he scrambled through the flora to fall beside her with a gasp. “Shika! What happened?!”

The doe wasn’t terribly injured, but blood spurted steadily from a graze in her left foreleg, and she pawed the ground with her front foot anxiously, letting out huffs of pain. Hinata ripped off strips of his kimono, wrapping them around her wound quickly and efficiently, cinching them into a knot with his teeth. Her blood tasted sour and acrid in his mouth as he glared out at the forest.

“Who did this to you? Where are Naoki and Mikio?”

Shika raised her leg weakly to point off into the forest and Hinata stood quickly, flashing her a reassuring, fiery glance. “Wait here and rest! I’ll bring them back.”

He slunk back through greenery towards the treeline, but halted in his tracks when footsteps caught his ear. He crouched low, shoulders tensing as his ears pressed flat against his head and his eyes darted every which way restlessly.

A figure entered the clearing, tall and dressed in dark clothing. A growl resonated from deep in Hinata’s throat as he caught sight of the gun on his shoulder. He crept through the flowers, keeping low to the ground, and approached him slowly, glancing back at Shika uneasily. It looked like the hunter had yet to spot her, but he was undoubtedly the one who had injured her.

The hunter’s calm blue eyes combed the meadow, his hand reaching for his weapon, and Hinata wasted no time in tackling him. As they rolled across the grass in a flurry of limbs, he ripped the gun free of his shoulder, tearing the strap with his teeth. He shot to his feet and broke the ugly metal contraption over his knees, shattering it in two and throwing the pieces as far away as he could.

As the hunter, cursing loudly, stumbled to his feet again, Hinata bared his teeth at him threateningly. “How dare you bring that here!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” The hunter tore the fur trapper hat from his head angrily and threw it to the ground, releasing a mound of straight black hair. “Why did you break my—” He bit off the rest of his sentence as his eyes focused on Hinata and widened, incomprehension painting his features pale. “ _What_ — What _are_ you?”

Hinata crossed his arms and gave an indignant huff. “I’m Hinata, a fox spirit _and_ the guardian of this forest!” He leveled a finger at the hunter with a sharp glare. “Weapons are forbidden here, and so is hunting!” He stamped a foot insistently. “Now, apologize to Shika!”

“What— to the _deer_?” The hunter scoffed resentfully, shock momentarily forgotten. “I don’t think so.”

“ _Wah_ —!” Hinata wailed, ears flicking disbelievingly. “But— But you _have_ to! You’re not in a position to argue here!”

“There’s no sign that says no hunting,” the boy responded smugly. “That means I can do _whatever I want_.”

“But you—!” Hinata growled and clenched his fists angrily. “W-well— _I’m_ in charge here, so you _have_ to listen to me!” He really wasn’t used to this much resistance. Usually, humans ran for the hills as soon as they saw him.

“Hmmm… _No_.” The hunter retrieved his hat and returned it to his head, ignoring Hinata’s infuriated expression. “I’ll leave, but I _won’t_ apologize, and I’ll be back once I get a new gun.”

“H-hey, _no_!” Hinata followed him as he went to retrieve his broken weapon, disgruntled at being ignored. “C-come back here! You can’t j-just— Come _back_!”

As the hunter headed towards the treeline, he waved back to a steaming Hinata carelessly. “Oh, I will. See you again!” He turned back around and cackled evilly as he headed back into the forest, leaving Hinata standing in the clearing, snarling after him.

“That stupid—! He’s _dead_ if he ever comes back here!” Hinata stamped back through the meadow towards Shika, silently fuming. “ _Dead_!”

*** * * ***

As promised, the hunter did return. Towards the end of the week, Hinata was napping in a tree when someone kicked the trunk hard enough to jostle him, sending him flailing to the ground in a flurry of curses and screaming.

He landed in a shrub and blew his tail out of his face, glaring up at an egotistical, smirking face. As Hinata lunged for him, the hunter easily stepped out of the way, sending him careening into another bush. “Oh, you seem angry. Didn’t you _order_ me to come back?”

“Only so I could strangle you!” Hinata growled, clenching his fist as he brushed leaves from his tail with as much dignity as he could muster. He studied the boy warily, tail twitching curiously as he released it. “You don’t have a gun,” he pointed out with some satisfaction.

“I didn’t think I needed one against a shrimp like you.”

Hinata’s tail twitched in irritation. “ _I will seriously kill you_.”

“Oh, relax.” The hunter leaned against the tree Hinata had fallen from nonchalantly, which only ticked him off even more. “Maybe I came to apologize. Maybe I… realized the error of my ways?” He paused. “Oh, the name’s Kageyama, by the way.”

“Uh-huh, sure,” Hinata responded dryly, crossing his arms. “Well, _Kageyama_ , I’m waiting for my apology, then.”

Kageyama pushed himself away from the trunk and ambled towards him, causing Hinata to stiffen nervously, although he absolutely refused to flinch, even with those unnerving, never-ending blue eyes staring at him so closely. For a human, this guy was kinda scary…

But true to his word, he leaned down so their foreheads were nearly touching and spoke sincerely. “Sorry.”

A sound escaped Hinata that could best be described as the yip of a dog whose paw had been stepped on. He attempted several words but only ended up stammering unintelligibly until his animal instincts could no longer refuse the urge to retreat and he darted up a tree, burying his face in his tail.

Kageyama stared up at him from the ground, shielding his face with one hand. “You’re a fast climber.”

“S-shut up…” Hinata turned his back on him and pulled his knees to his chest, concealing his flushed face. “You apologized; n-now go away!”

A laugh echoed from below. “ _Oh_ I see. I’ll leave, then.”

“Good!” Hinata lingered in expectant silence, waiting for the footsteps to completely recede before he finally came down, sitting against the tree with a subdued exhale. He rested his chin on his knees and tried to organize his jumbled nerves. As he took measured breaths, Chiyō appeared from a nearby cypress and alighted upon his shoulder. 

She cawed haughtily. _You’re blushing._

“Shut up, I am _not_.” Hinata tried to shoo the bird away, but she only hovered for a moment before lowering onto his other shoulder.

She squawked astutely once more, flying back into the tree cover before Hinata could whack her.

_I sense your life is going to change soon._

Hinata wrung his hands out disbelievingly. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about… stupid crow.”

But in spite of his uncertainty, nearby, a patch of daffodils grew underneath a pine tree: the flower of “new beginnings.”


End file.
